The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup
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An easy and delicious creamy potato soup recipe that can be made in just one pot! Loaded with bacon and creamy potato goodness, this is a favorite comfort food in my household.
Something savory today!
Savory, creamy, and loaded with bacon, sour cream, and cheese. You guys already know that we don’t exactly do health food around here, right? 😉
Even when I’m not sharing desserts, the food is always comfort food, and that’s usually best served with extra cheese (have you tried my baked mac and cheese yet!?) and usually comes with a few calories. Let’s not think about that too much, alright?
I know I mentioned to you guys that I had this potato soup recipe for you back when I posted my Oreo Balls; I made it when Zach had a bad cold and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since (you might think that’s an exaggeration, but I can assure you that my food obsessions run deep… Please see photo below to understand why).
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Zach prefers to eat healthy most of the time (I pretend that I do, too, but really if I lived alone I’m pretty sure I’d eat creamy cheesy foods every night and never fit through any doors ever again), so the soup was a good break from baked chicken breast, but this definitely isn’t an every night kind of meal in our house.
Potato soup is definitely on the menu for this weekend, though… it’s so frigid outside I’ve convinced myself that I need soup, specifically creamy potato soup, to survive. Potato soup makes me dramatic, evidently.
If you’re in the midst of a cold spell yourself (or even if you’re not) I think you’re going to enjoy this creamy potato soup as much as we do. Read on for some tips on how to make it!
Tips for Perfect Creamy Potato Soup
- Cut your potatoes into pieces no larger than 3/4″ and try to keep them around the same size so that they cook at the same time. Nothing worse than biting into a crisp, raw-inside chunk of potato!
- To make this soup nice and creamy, I recommend pureeing about half of it either by using an immersion blender or by transferring a portion of the soup to a blender, pureeing, and then stirring the pureed soup back into the pot (maybe you recognize this technique from my corn chowder). If you want a completely smooth soup you can puree all of it, but I prefer to have a few actual pieces of potato, so I think pureeing half gives it the best taste and texture.
- Don’t return the bacon to the pot until after you have pureed some of the soup. It’s best not to blend the bacon 😉.
- The ancho chili powder is, in my humble opinion, a must and gives this soup the most perfect depth of flavor. I blend it into the potato soup and also sprinkle it on top before serving. I recommend adding just a 1/4 teaspoon and then taste testing before adding more.
This would make a great comfort food for this cold and windy weekend (is there anything more cozy than a pot of soup simmering on the stove while the wind is howling at your window? Anything!?), and while I don’t follow football at all I do know that this would be great to make ahead and enjoy during the big game this weekend.
Who really cares about football when you can make yourself a Super Bowl of soup! 🤣😂 OK OK I’m sorry, enough of that!
Enjoy!
How to Make Potato Soup
The Ultimate Potato Soup Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 strips (uncooked) bacon, cut into small pieces
- 3 Tablespoons butter, unsalted or salted will work
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 1.5 cup/200g)
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, (42g)
- 2 ½ lbs gold potatoes, peeled and diced into pieces no larger than 1” (this was about 6 Large potatoes for me/1.15kg)
- 4 cups chicken broth, (945ml)
- 2 cups milk, (475ml)
- ⅔ cup heavy cream, (155ml)
- 1 ½ teaspoon* salt
- 1 teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon ancho chili powder**
- ⅔ cup sour cream, (160g)
- Shredded cheddar cheese, chives, and additional sour cream and bacon for topping, optional
Instructions
- Place bacon pieces in a large Dutch Oven or soup pot over medium heat and cook until bacon is crisp and browned.
- Remove bacon pieces and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot.
- Add butter and chopped onion and cook over medium heat until onions are tender (3-5 minutes).
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
- Sprinkle the flour over the ingredients in the pot and stir until smooth (use whisk if needed).
- Add diced potatoes to the pot along with chicken broth, milk, heavy cream, salt, pepper, and ancho chili powder. Stir well.
- Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork (about 10 minutes).
- Reduce heat to simmer and remove approximately half*** of the soup to a blender (be careful, it will be hot!) and puree until smooth (half is about 5 cups of soup, but just eyeballing the amount will be fine. Alternatively you can use an immersion blender.).
- Return the pureed soup to the pot and add sour cream and reserved bacon pieces, stir well.
- Allow soup to simmer for 15 minutes before serving.
- Top with additional sour cream, bacon, cheddar cheese, or chives. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Excellent recipe. Super easy and delicious. We reduced the sour cream and pepper. Will make this again soon.
Thanks for trying our recipe, Susan! 😊
My husband was craving potato soup so I searched for a recipe. I found this one and I made it today. It is delicious. I had no ancho chili powder, so I substituted cayenne pepper and paprika. It still turned out fantastic. Luckily I got the slight heat just right. Can’t wait to try it with the ancho. Thanks for sharing.
This is an absolutely simple intensely tasty soup and a family pleaser. I will be going back to this recipe again and again! This potato soup is very forgiving too. I had no carrots or sour creme, but between the rest of the ingredients, it remained delicious. I know the carrot and sour cream would make it even better, however I just used what I had. Everyone loved it and I will make this again and again.
This recipe is one of my weekly rotations because its SO good! I always add broccoli and shredded chicken to mine and I use cashew milk instead of regular milk and it’s still amazing! I love making the full batch so I can have lots of leftovers because it’s even better the next day!
We love hearing that, Cambrea! Thanks so much for coming back to leave a review ❤
First time making this- and I already have a great potato bacon soup. But this one is a keeper – for sure will make again – yum !
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Karen 😊
Delicious & comforting! I followed the recipe exactly with one addition- 2 whole jalapeños. I also went ahead and used the full amount of 1/2 teaspoon of ancho chile powder and it was great. I live alone, so I had plenty of leftovers – it’s even better the next day. I’ll definitely be making this again. I’m glad I found this website and I can’t wait to try other recipes!
Sounds delicious, Sam! We are so happy you liked the recipe. Let us know if you try any others! 😊
Hi there from New Zealand. Can you please tell me about the Ancho Chili powder? Is this a blend or pure chili? Something our countries do differently. Recipe looks great. Just don’t want to over do the heat by using the wrong ingredient. Thanks
Hi Fiona! Ancho chili powder is made from dried poblano peppers. It has a smoky, slightly sweet flavor and a very mild heat level. Plain chili powder is usually a blend of a few spices. If you don’t have the ancho you could leave it out, or you could do a combination of regular chili powder and paprika (to mimic that sweet and smoky flavor). Hope that helps!
I’m Aussie. Use smoked paprika.
Perfect! From Granny to the baby, everyone loved it! So yummy, thanks for sharing with us!!
Stay well~
Felicia
We’re so happy it was such a hit! Thanks for making our recipe ❤
This recipe is super easy and delicious. My 14 month old even enjoyed it!
We’re so glad it was a hit for your family, Logan!
This is easy and the best tasting loaded potato soup
Thanks so much, Lana! Enjoy 😊
The first time i made this it was amazing. The last 3 times it has been bland. Ive added more bacon with no luck. Other than that ive made it exactly the same and cant figure out why its so bland.
I add a pound of hot Italian sausage and half lb of sweet Italian sausage. Lots of flavor 🙂
How long does this keep in the fridge for when packaged in sealed mason jars? Not pressure sealed mind you. It is very good I just want to know how long it will keep! 🙂
Hi Ash! This is going to be like any other soup when it comes to storage. It’s always best fresh, but will be good for several days. 🙂
This was delicious! I cut back on a few things to slightly reduce the fat content without sacrificing the flavor: 2 T of butter instead of 3. Did not add the 2/3 cup of sour cream at the end at all. I also reserved the bacon to sprinkle on top of soup rather than putting it all in at the end. This helped retain the crunch of the crispy bacon. I also used 1 t of salt instead of 1.5 t. My picky 14 year old son even liked it.
My family and I love this recipe – we make it every few weeks whenever we’re in a potato mood. Thank you very much!
Awesome soup! I hated potato soup before I found this recipe, now I can’t get enough of it!
We’re so happy you like it so much, Kimberly! Thanks for your review ❤
(BTW)POOR EYESIGHT REASON FOR ALL CAPS.IVE ALWAYS MADE CHEESY POTATO SOUP WHICH IS GOOD,BUT MY YOUNGEST DAUGHTER(ACTUALLY GRAND)WHO IS 24-YRS.OLD,WAS TAKING CARE OF ME & MY HUSBAND DURING OUR COVID ILLNESS.THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST SOUP EVER. WE HAVE HAD IT MANY TIMES SINCE.THANK-YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS WONDERFUL RECIPE WITH THE WORLD. AND RAVEN THANK YOU FOR TAKING CARE OF YOUR DAD & I. THIS SOUP WAS A LIFE SAVER.
We’re so happy it helped you during your healing ❤ Thanks for your review, Marla!
Made this tonight for supper and it was delicious. I had no ancho powder and did not cream any of the soup in the blender because I used a whipping cream instead of heavy cream and felt it was thick enough for us. Big hit. I will be making this again! Btw I gave my neighbor some ( left on doorstep as she has Covid) she loved what little she could eat.
We’re so happy it was such a hit for you, Terri! Thanks so much for your review 😊
This is THE best potato soup I’ve ever eaten, much less made! The only thing I didn’t add at the end was extra sprinkle of cheese. We have had a bit of a cold/rainy spell the past few days, so this soup has been the perfect comfort food! I will be making this again, to be sure!
We’re so happy you enjoyed it so much, Jan! Thanks for your review 🥰